Thursday, March 30, 2017

For the past dozen posts I've been chronicling my 40-week journey toward starting my own production company. The first trimester of the journey has really been about setting up the "back end" of the business. Today I launched my video production web pages. This is a big milestone for me; even though it’s not “finished” or complete, I now have someplace to refer people to see my work.

Day 30:

For the time being my video pages are a section of my photography website.This may change in the future, but while I have limited examples of my video work I am showing my photography as supporting imagery.You might notice that I’m immediately contradicting myself:my advice is to super niche, and only list what is important to my videography clients (photography is obviously not it).Obviously, it’s difficult to follow any advice to the letter—real life gets in the way. In this case, I’m hoping to create a media production company that combines still and motion. But I’ll be watching to see if my “muddied” message gets in the way of any clients.

The video section has three pages: an introductory page with my portfolio, a process page that explains how I work with clients, and a contact page.I have just six videos in my portfolio.In other words, the bare minimum all around.But it’s enough to say, hey, I am a videographer.Until my portfolio includes really top-notch work, I can only expect companies with limited budgets to hire me.People who can’t afford top-notch.As a photographer I learned that the way to grow my business was to always deliver higher quality content than what I was being paid to produce.This not only made for happy customers, it allowed me to pitch my services to bigger companies each time.Yet again, I’m contradicting myself with the choice of videos.I don’t have six videos in one niche, so I’m making do with what’s available.

The goal for today was to launch an introductory “website” (in my case, web pages) that would convey competence, accessibility, and creativity.Most filmmakers aren’t great writers.Luckily, I am.I don’t say that lightly-- I’m an award-winning playwright and I write copy for my company.One of the first things you learn as a copy writer is not to rely on your own creativity. Being good with words doesn’t mean you know what to say.My advice is to look at other websites to understand what you should communicate; if you’re good with words, you can decide how you communicate that message.

Keeping my niche clients in mind, I reviewed several websites from other video companies.I chose companies that were not in my geographic area.I looked for content categories (like testimonials, process, etc.); and I looked for language I thought was powerful. I copied content I liked into a Word document-- several pages of content, actually-- and then edited and wordsmithed it until the language was specific to my clients and my strengths.

My client database has doubled since Day 13.But I’m not ready to contact any of them.First impressions are important, even when you expect to make several pitches over several months to close the deal.If I came to my website I wouldn’t hire me just yet, not if I had the resources to hire someone else.From working in photography I know these pages aren’t competitive, and neither is my pitch.One tenth of the way into my 180 day challenge, I still have a long road ahead.

Just joining us? You can read about the beginning of the journey here.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Location, location, location. That used to be the motto of every new
business (and the reason I said 2017 is going to be a Why 2017 is going to be a great year for videographers). You want foot traffic, accessibility, and to be surrounded
by complementary businesses. Nowadays, though, your most important location is
in the virtual world. Your storefront is your website.

Today is all about maximizing and honing your website. It’s not about
SEO; search engine optimization is about getting people to your website—this is
about moving customers who visit your website to hire you.

We’ve already talked about the three main concepts: sharpening your
target consumer population to a fine point (super niching), identifying the
unique qualities that make up your competitive edge, and translating those
qualities into customer-centric language. Now we need to apply that to
your web page. Two things to remember: first, your should revise and
update your website is something at least every six months. It’s not a
one-time deal. You need to be continually sharpening your website
language, and it will change as your sample videos change and as your company
grows. Second, whatever it is you want to say about your company is
probably the ball and chain that will drag you down into the murky,
trash-filled depths of the lagoon of bankruptcy and leave your family
destitute. Cuz it’s not about you. It’s about your customer.

Reverse the lens: we’ve talked about this before. What does your customer
want? That’s the only thing that matters. Your experience is only
as relevant as your customer’s desire to know. Most people explain way
too much. Be brief and let your samples talk for you. The equipment
you use is meaningless. As is your schooling. Everything that
appears on your web page has to meet three criteria:

Highlights how it will fulfill their needs. The lens has to be pointed
at them, not you.

Positions your competitive advantages in terms of how it meets their needs
and desires.

This is what marketers mean when they say the customer comes first.

It’s often easier to understand a concept by studying “bad examples” rather
than good ones. Let’s look at some examples of video production websites that
don’t follow these rules. All of the companies and websites are real, but
since they haven’t asked for my critique I’m going to make them as anonymous as
possible.

Example 1

Bad example 1 - D Productions (the names have been changed to protect the
guilty): the home page is a “splash page” with their logo, a quote
about overcoming difficulties, and an enter button. None of that is
important to their customers. Their real homepage has a featured video
(good), two sample videos (skimpy), a “Now in Production” statement (who cares
unless it’s for a major company like BMW?), “We Specialize In…” such and such
videos (good), and “Now Seeking Angel Investors” (are you kidding me?). So
little of this page tells the customer that they will fill their needs.
What’s do they shoot? Who is their client population? It’s almost
impossible to tell, except their History page lists a lot of sports
games. So maybe the clients are sports teams and the need is to “capture
the excitement of the game.” But that’s not what is on their page.

Example 2:

Bad example 2 - W Productions: the Homepage is all text—no images or
video. Their tag line is “Illuminating life through video.” What
need does that fill? No one wants a video to “illuminate life?”
Unless, maybe, if they specialized in video retrospectives for senior
citizens. But they don’t. The next block of text declares:

“All THAT YOU NEED CAN BE FOUND HERE. W Productions has been providing
high-quality video production since we opened our doors in 2008. Every
day, we strive to provide you with friendly service and the best experience in Blank City.”
Again, how does this relate to their customer’s needs and concerns?

Example 3:

Okay, you’re saying you’d never create a website as bad as that. Let’s
examine a good website with more minor flaws: N Productions: They
describe themselves as “A full-service media company located in the heart of
Blank City, N Productions is a team of passionate individuals who believe in
the power of storytelling to entertain, inspire, and inform. Please feel free
to contact us with inquiries, budget requests, or just to connect.” Friendly.
Then they describe each of their services with a short blurb for
Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production. This is followed by logos of
big name clients they’ve worked for. The website is elegant, lively, and
clean. But the only thing that separates them from their competition is
the list of previous clients. I know more about who they are from their
client list than anything else. Consider their company description:
“A full service media company….” That’s the only relevant bit of info in the
sentence. Passionate individuals, storytelling, inspiring, entertaining,
these adjectives are a dime a dozen, and entirely predictable. If they
said, “N Productions is a scrappy team who tell stories that tickle the
imagination and inspire engagement” you’d have a better sense of who they
are. Not because the sentence means something vastly different, but
because the description surprises.

You’ll notice in none of the examples have I talked about the quality of
their videos. While that may be the single biggest factor in getting
hired, that’s not the focus here. Nor am I discussing whether their page is "attractive" or not-- I'm focused simply on the content.

Example 4:

Now a good example from the folks at Empire Video. The name of their company is
missing from their Homepage (which is inexplicably weird), but look: we know they service
young companies, giving them a “boost,” helping with fund raising and
branding. And since the companies are new, they’ve outlined the process—a
completely info-free 3-step description—for what will happen. And they’ve
got 9 samples to view. We can identify their niche (young businesses),
the need (raise money and/or awareness), and their competitive edge is…
(simplicity, ease of use). Is it perfect? You tell me.

Just joining us? You can read about the beginning of the "Going Pro" journey here.

Friday, March 24, 2017

I am not a master of marketing language. I am an ardent student with a few powerful tools. Plenty-o-folks have done this for longer, better, and more quickly than me. But there aren't a lot of marketing resources that are written specifically for videographers and photographers. Sure, the basic principles apply, but it's a difficult skill to learn, especially if you have to translate from one industry to another. It's easy to understand the marketing concept that "Tide laundry detergent doesn't sell soap, they sell clean fresh clothes," but how does that translate to me? I don't sell pictures I sell memories? I think I just threw up in my mouth a little-- and I expect the reader has as well.

This post is a look at how to transliterate your unique characteristics (identified earlier) into compelling marketing language. It builds off of the foundation of things that we've already discussed: identifying your client population (or niche), and identifying those unique characteristics. Those characteristics, however, are about you. Marketing language is about them. And that's the most important key to mastering the language. The goal is to speak to their needs, their goals, and their concerns. Visit their website: Tide doesn't just sell bright-fresh-clean clothes, they sell convenience, they sell environmental responsibility. Those are the needs, desires, and concerns of their buyers.

Brand Profile

A common marketer's tool for creating a brand profile is a three-step spreadsheet that goes from product characteristic to brand tone to brand language. Brand Language, in this case, isn't just the words but the concepts and structure. By concept and structure I'm referring to things like testimonials, statistics, bullet points, and images. Since we're selling a combined product/service, I've tweaked my categories to be Brand Attribute, Brand Tone, and Looks Like. (Just to be 100% clear, "brand attributes" are your unique characteristics.) For example, you want to project an image of your company as "vibrant." What does does vibrant feel like? What's the tone? It can feel like many things, but you want customers to see you as positive, motivated, and inclusive. That's your brand tone. But you don't want to say, "we're a positive, motivated, and inclusive team." You want them to feel those attributes when they visit your website. So what do they look like? Fun, original adjectives. International examples.

There's how the model looks in action:

So let's go back to that sickly idea of "selling memories." Tide doesn't just say that they sell fresh clothes, they use words and concepts to convey that idea without having to be so direct. You can convey the idea of selling memories by "capturing that special day" (weddings) or "documenting the moment" (events) or "they change so quickly" (baby). Or more broadly-- "pictures you'll cherish for a lifetime."

Next post: Put these skills to use on your website.

Just joining us? You can read about the beginning of the journey here.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Started rehearsals for Second
Wind’s next production, Jerusalemby Jez Butterworth. I’m both a producer and an
actor in the show. This means 18 hours a week dedicated to rehearsals and
another 10 to production logistics. On
top of my 28 hour a week day job, this 56 hour work-week poses more
obstacles to getting the company up and running. Luckily, I don’t have kids
(yet... seven months and counting down).

How do I make time? Well, for one
I watch very little TV. We don’t own
one. When I find myself surfing the net
aimlessly, I re-direct myself towards accomplishing something, anything towards my
goal. And I’m drinking less. Anyone frightened off?

Seriously, studies show that the “average”
American spends 4.5 hours a day watching TV and 5 hours a day online or staring
at their cell phone. Over the course of 7
days we’ll devote almost a full work-week to our televisions,
and another full work-week to the internet for entertainment. That’s two
full time jobs we could devote to our production company without
jeopardizing a meal, a date, or a conversation.

You can work two full-time jobs

in the amount of time you spend

on entertaining yourself

So how do you cut back on the consumption of all that sugary time-wasting? Bit by bit. Make a To-Do list and put it off to one side where it won't annoy you. That way you'll never "forget" what needs to be done when you've got a free moment. Thenlook at your schedule. Take an hour of "open" time that would most likely be spent watching TV or surfing the net and dedicate it to one specific task on the list. After a couple of days, add a second hour from your open schedule. Practice clearing your desk of items-- unopened letters/bills, clutter-- at the end of each day. Advice on how to use your time better can sound preachy real fast, I know, but your time is one of the greatest resources at your disposal. And you only get to use it once.

A quick summary of the other production
activities over the past 24 days:

Joined Professional Photographers
of America. In truth, I should have done
this six months ago when my workload as a photographer started to become
consistent. My primary interest was the
insurance really—you’re constantly putting your equipment at risk. Moreover, if you work on location, the
routine is constantly changing, making accidents more likely. I can’t say I’m thrilled with the high
deduction for claims—making any single piece of equipment under $800 basically
uninsured—but I hope it will be a good investment?

Continued to expand my database of potential clients. To do this I looked
at client list of a local consulting firm for strategic planning. I identified non-profits on their list who’s
activities were similar to my target group, and prioritized those organizations
that had a prominent “Donate” button on their websites. My video service, remember, is designed to
help increase donations, so my best clients will have that as a priority. Many non-profits also post their annual
report in their About Us pages. This
often contains information on both their general budget and their fundraising
budget. Knowing this information
makes it clear that I understand something about their needs, and gives me a
sense of what I should charge.

Launched my video production web pages. This is a big milestone for me: even though it's not "finished," I can now respond to Craigslist and Thumbtack postings because I can refer them to my work. For the time being, my video pages are a section of my photography website. This may change in the future, but as long as I have limited examples of my video work I feel it's important to show my photography as supporting imagery. The video section has three pages: a Home page with my examples; a Process page that explains how I work with clients; and a Contact page. There are just six videos in my portfolio-- in other words, the bare minimum.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Branded content is a bit of an umbrella terms for the merger of brand marketing with other content-- either educational or entertainment. Imagine a tutorial on a subjected related to your product, or short film that features your product, and you've found an example of content marketing. It works because it either fulfills an immediate need (tutorial) or touches the viewer emotionally (film).

Branded content has taken off in the video world as digital media has become richer and technology has allowed viewers to circumnavigate traditional ads. In today's environment your audience has to want to watch your ad. Gone our the days when ads are forced on them every 12 minutes. If your business isn't doing content marketing-- or your video company producing it-- you are waay behind the curve. Delve deeper, see examples, and learn more on Hurricane Images' company blog.

Monday, March 20, 2017

We've been talking a lot about your "identity"-- as defined by your niche and the qualities that make up your competitive edge-- and that's fine. In this definition, Identity is both who you are and what you mean to your customers, so it's logical to refine those before exploring the basics of starting a company. This post (which I'll keep as brief as possible) deals with what most artists find to be painful drudgery. But you can't get around it.

"You want a flawless experience

for your customers"

Twenty-five years of producing theatre taught me how manage the craziness of opening night. Regardless of how well you plan, how much lead time you invest, or how competent your team, the final hours before curtain are controlled chaos. You want the first experience for that first audience to be flawless-- not just the performances but the flow from doorstep to "lights up." The mistakes that catch most new producers by surprise is the face that so many things are being done for the first time on Opening Night (or Preview, if you're lucky enough to have one): the first time you put out the sign, the first box office, the first petty cash, first refreshments, seating, curtain speech. Opening a business isn't so different. You want a flawless business experience for your customers.

The technique I learned for managing those final hours before the first customer is to work from back to front. The front is your doorstep... or the customer's first "awareness" of you. In the theatre this was putting out the street sign that says OPEN. But there's no point in having customers walk in the door unless you've cleaned the lobby, stocked the box office, etc. So I would start with the back of the business and work forward. In theater, the "back" is the seating area. Then you've got the lobby. Then the refreshment bar, the box office, the elevator, the street.

For a production company, the "front" might be your website (or maybe your contract). Before worrying about those, you need to set up your back end. So what's back there?

Business license

Bank account

Book keeping system

"Office"

Phone system

Marketing Plan

Video gear

Contracts & paperwork

Website

Have I forgotten anything? Chime in?

Many of these items I'll discuss in depth later. In the mean time, I'll dispatch the first two items quickly. You know what a business license and a bank account are, get them. The US Small Business Adminstration can link you to all the info we need to know about setting up a business in your county (most states require county-level registration). Hopefully you can find your bank. You'll need forms from your county to set up a business bank account.

Now, since I'm being completely truthful on this blog, I'll confess that I didn't get either of these in the first two years of working as a part-time photographer. Or the first six months of working as a part-time videographer. Even though I used the name Hurricane Images, I considered myself a private consultant (not a company) and used PayPal for processing credit cards and my own bank account for checks. (I'm not fond of PayPal's politics, so that may change in the future.) Since I wasn't a "company" I skipped the business license. My income started around $150 a month and grew over time to a whopping $500 a month as a part-timer, so I really didn't think it merited a license and an account. I'm sure my county government sees it differently. My strong recommendation to you is to knuckle down and get the tedious stuff out of the way immediately. Two years ago when I started part-time, I wasn't committed to becoming a professional. You are.

Just joining us? You can read about the beginning of the "Going Pro" journey here.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Our first sonogram.We heard our baby’s heartbeat. I can’t tell
you how awesome (and how frightening) that is.All of one’s sense of responsibility reverberates in those frantic
beats.160 counts a minute, which (like
my own heartbeat in this moment) is a little fast.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

There are few products I use regularly, and the Ikan
Beholder 3-axis motorized gimbal is one of them.Hurricane Images Inc. recently shot a Fremo EVO commercial with
it, and it was put to extensive use in Jaz Danz’s music video for “Justify My
Love.”

I purchased the larger EC1 model, even though my camera is
well below the specs of the cheaper DS1.Essentially I wanted both the ability to attach heavier lenses and
upgrade to a larger camera and the EC1 can balance a 4.5 pound rig.I wanted my
gimbal to be able to grow with my kit.However, I’m not sure if it was worth the extra $350, so weigh your
options carefully.

The wide handle base helps with balancing the Sony
A7sii.You can set it on a table and
quickly adjust.The knobs are easy to
find and turn.Most importantly it does
an excellent job of keeping my footage steady.The Beholder rarely jitters under stress.I’ve yet to run out of battery, even on the
EVO commercial in which used the Ikan exclusively for 4 hour shoots.I don’t have an estimate on battery life
because I’ve yet to run them down.

There are some limitations. It doesn’t work so well with
larger lenses because you can’t slide the camera back far enough to find the
center of gravity.Also, you can’t
charge the batteries and use the unit at the same time, even if you have a
spare set of batteries.You need to buy
a separate battery charger.The design
of many of these motorized gimbals make it difficult to see the screen, but
that’s not unique to the Ikan.

Having used it on roughly a dozen shoots, I've become aware of how the "feel" of gimbal/steady-cam footage differs from sliders. Sliders have a precision that is mechanical in their otherworldly texture. Gimbals feel more organic, like an otherworldly creature is behind the camera. Handheld-- done properly, feels human. $900 is a lot to spend on a piece of equipment, but this is one product I use constantly and it can drastically increase your game. I've tried cheap, non-motorized equivalents, and they just aren't consistent enough to use on a professional set. The Ikan Behold gimbal review... worth the money.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a Start
Up. These are the hot terms, the lingo kids speak. Frankly,
I’m a workman and when I want to get work done I look for other
workpeople. As the son of one of the few living geniuses in the music
world, I know that art is sweat and calluses. It’s a relentless
commitment to the work.

Do we all have a unique story? Okay, the
answer is “yes,” but I’d prefer we find a less silly way to ask the
question. Something befitting the work we want to accomplish.

What is my competitive edge over the
competition?Isn’t that the real
question?

Define what you do

in terms of what they want

You’ve chosen your niche, right?Now it's time to identify the competitive advantage you have over other videographers in your area. These are the qualities you will highlight your website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube channel, and
elevator speech.The most important
rule-- and I’ll repeat: most important rule-- of marketing is to define what
you do in terms of what the customer wants and gets.Which means you don’t talk about what you
do or make.You talk about what they get, based
on what they want.There are a billion
good examples in marketing.You don’t
sell laundry detergent, you sell clean, fresh smelling clothes.You don’t sell beer, you sell a good time (or
a pretty girl).Not eyeglasses but vision.
Not carnival tickets but thrills. Not laptops but creativity.Not... and on and on and on.

Your niche defines your competitors

In defining your niche, you’ve found
your real competitors. Articulating what differentiates you from them can be
the difference between (business) life or death in the beginning. So do two
things:

1.Go to
3 of your competitors' websites and make a list of the qualities and capabilities
they highlight.If they have
testimonials looks at those, too.

2.Make
a list of your own (unique) qualities. What makes you stand out? Go
beyond “cost”—you don’t want to be the cheapest forever

Here’s an example from one of my competitors: They used the word “creative” 8 times on a page
with barely 200 words of text. They used the word “story” six times.”
They push “concept development” as their strength. They highlight experience
and team. They provided case studies. In testimonials, their
customers used words like fresh, compelling, creativity, joy to work with,
worth every penny. The message is clear: they make creative concepts that will tell your story; they make creative concepts that tell your story; the make creative concepts that will tell your story. The making is worth every penny and fun. The creative is fresh. The concepts are compelling. They do it through story.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

For many, the idea of “Super niching” feels like a pair of
handcuffs.Like you will be limiting
potential clients.If you want to build
a company quickly, the natural instinct is to cast a wide net.The benefits of targeting your audience, however,
is central to every book on marketing you’ll ever read (and I recommend you
read a couple if you’re just starting out).Seeing it work in action is impressive, and far more convincing than
anything you’ll read in a book, though.

Illy Cafe Shoot - Illy is a super niche within the coffee world

Case study, Shmuley Hoffman

Shmuley Hoffman at Hoffman Productions is an excellent
example of “super niching.” In fact, that’s who I borrowed the term from.His company’s primary focus is not simply
promotional videos for summer camps, he’s honed it to Jewish summer camps.As of this publication, he keeps a
wonderful-if-brief blog with great business tips for starting out.In his videoblog interview with Thomas
Roberts he doubles down on the super niche idea.Thomas took his non-video career in medical
instruments and turned his contacts into lucrative video clients. It’s a great
example of using your existing relationships to identify your niche, and he
gives a first-hand account of his experience here: http://entrefilmmaker.com/get-high-paying-projects-with-super-niching/.I always look forward to Hoffman’s amusing
and helpful posts.And Shmuley’s video
production is first rate—worthy of study.

Spark Shop Creatives (http://www.sparkshopcreative.com/)is another company that started as a super
niche.I worked on a project with them a
few years back and got to share more than a few Indian beers with Chuck
Fryberger and his team.His company grew
out of a love for rock climbing.Chuck
started by filming their climbs.Their
self-produced videos attracted the interest of companies like Cliff Bar
and climbing equipment companies.It
expanded to Red Bull and detoured into other areas.But they’ve kept their identity around
climbing, sports, and the outdoors.When
you think about it, that’s a huge market.

It’s worthwhile to note that “super niching” (and yes, I’ll
stop using that word soon), also positions you as an expert in creating videos
for that audience… even if your skill level isn’t above average in
general.If you “specialize” in
creating videos for non-profits, you present yourself as an expert in the field
just by not catering to everyone.

So how do you pick your niche?There’s no science to this process, but
here’s a tool that might help:

1.Divide
a sheet of paper into three columns

2.In
the first column, make a list of the types of businesses you already interact
with professionally; include personal relationships with business owners.

3.In
the second column, list the areas in which you’d say your knowledge borders on
expert or near expert; include hobbies.

4.In
the third column, make a list of the clients you’d like to work with.This might include businesses from your first
column, but also dream clients.

Now look for common elements across these three columns. Any
item that appears in two or more columns is a potential niche.Give the first column preferential treatment,
because these are potential clients you already know.Circle the businesses, knowledge areas, and
clients that overlap in some way.

Now comes the time for a heart check.Make another list of the kind of video you’d
like to create.This list can be genre’s
(testimonials, documentaries, short film), and also how they will be
experienced (uplifting, grand in scope, gritty).Do the descriptions from the heart check list
fit with the clients?Where’s the most
overlap?

Just joining us? You can read about the beginning of the Going Pro series here.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Because of some complications, I know the exact date of
conception of my child. Knowing that isn’t exceptional-- most couples can
guess-- it’s knowing on the day itself that life has begun.People don’t tell you how poor the odds are
in those first few days. First few weeks. First few months.It starts below 15% likelihood of survival.As the cells multiply those odds ever so
slowly grow.One’s heart is bent around
the possible child from the first hour-- pinned to hope as embryos show
promise, stall, die, grow in fits and spurts.It is ridiculously unreliable, our reproductive system.There were times I wondered how anyone was
born.

By the end of the first trimester your odds are looking
pretty good (though frankly, still terrifyingly uncertain).I had a sensation similar to stepping on a
broken escalator.You know intellectually that it’s not
moving, but instinctively your foot falters, anticipating the familiar motion
below.And even as I climb the stairs of
my own volition, my feet are not quite steady.There’s an ever so slight sense of vertigo... the anticipation of
movement below my feet.That’s the first trimester.

But you hope.And
hate that hope just a little, for fear of it all falling apart.There’s a correlation here, to starting ones
own company.The ridiculous,
uncontrollable odds.The vertigo. The
anxiety and fear of failure.My mantra
has become a simple cliché:more dreams have been destroyed by fear than
by failure.

"More dreams have been destroyed

by fear,

than by failure"

So go out and do it, fear be damned.People say life is short.That doesn’t motivate me.Life is long motivates me.You’ll live with your mistakes, your fears,
your missed opportunities for a long, long time.So if you’ve made a mistake, fix it.If you’re afraid of something, push it
aside.If the opportunity presents
itself, grab it.Reasonably.Strategically.Passionately.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Picking my poison.The most common advice for photographers embarking on a career is to
specialize.Be a portrait photographer, or
an architectural photographer, or product photographer.When you can, subdivide that specialty: don’t
just be a portrait photographer, be a high school graduation portrait shooter,
a fashion shooter, or an actor’s headshot shooter.Super-niche, because there are enough people
interested in whatever fraction of the photographic world you choose to sustain
you, and the customer wants to know they’re in the hands of a specialist.It’s good advice, and I think it applies to
being a videographer as well.

Of course, I didn’t follow that advice as a
photographer.But that’s largely because
I didn’t start out trying to build a career as a photographer—I wasn’t paying
the mortgage with that income so I could afford the lean months.In fact, I never made more than $1600
a month as a photographer, and most were closer to $500.I’m glad I chose that path; it gave me a
broader base of work, and because I wasn’t in a hurry, over time I created a
broader base of clients.

But this wasn’t a gentle stroll towards a client base.I needed a grab—the fastest, surest path to
generating income while staying true to the types of shoots I found
satisfying.

Pick a specialty

So here is step number one:you need to pick your niche.This
comes before a business plan (though some would say it’s the first step of a
business plan), your marketing plan, your website-- everything.Pick a niche that is both of interest and can
generating income for you.Not
for someone else.

What does that mean, exactly?The temptation is to pick the most attractive
niche… what you really want to be shooting.Set that aside.Look at who
you are right now: what field do you work in now? What hobbies do you immerse
yourself in?Those are your best bets
because you’ve got connections… trust in those areas.Don’t think, “wouldn’t it be great to make
documentaries” if you’ve never created a documentaries.That’s your 2-year plan.Your today plan is to partner with
potential customers that are already in your circle.Don’t rush this decision. You probably have
more history to draw from than you think, and those connections have other
connections.

You already work in your niche

I’ll repeat myself:examine your current business and your hobbies in order to find your
niche.If you work at Dairy Queen,
fine.The first company you should
approach is Dairy Queen.Then boutique
ice creameries.Then specialty deserts.Then specialty restaurants and major ice
cream makers.

Here’s the misconception about picking a niche.You’re not picking the genre you’ll shoot for the rest of your career.You’re picking your first bread a
butter clients.Branching out to other
forms of videography is much easier when you have a body of work and a regular
flow of income.

My work had been environmental health, specifically in
chemical exposures that affect human health.Over the past couple of days I researched other agencies that do similar
work. Those included companies that do almost identical work, and then expanded
out to companies that do similar work. Even if I don’t know anyone at those
companies, they’ll recognize and respect my agency.And they’ll treat my correspondence with
professional respect.They won’t ignore
any email or call, because they may end up in a meeting with me next month—even
if they’ve never met me before.

I put together a simple Excel spreadsheet.The categories were:

Organization Type Contact Person Email Phone Address Outreach

My “identical” companies included competitors for my current
employer.These groups did
environmental health research and education.Then I added companies that did environmental advocacy and education. These included both small community based
organizations and governmental agencies.On this list I also included my own company as a potential customer.I started with 10 names on this list, knowing
that it would… should grow over time as I made more contacts.These included my company’s current
competition; another company that had interviewed me for a position I didn’t
get; another that was the colleague of a CBO I served on the board of; a
government agency that had funded other projects for my company years ago; and
a couple of organizations I didn’t really know. Out of these 10, the goal is to
land 2.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

The decision:become
a filmmaker in 180 days.I didn’t reach
this decision lightly—wait, did I say 180 days?

I did.

A New World in 180 Days

Initially, I planned to do this in just six
months-- though in truth my goal was to land my first truly professional
job... something that paid close to a living wage.The gulf between one gig and sustained income is enormous. however, I
wrestled with the wisdom and practicality of making this career change at my
stage in life.I didn’t reach it of
my own volition—I was driven to it.

My wife was ten days pregnant when my boss sat me down and
explained that my job would be ending.I
was grant-funded, and the opportunities had dried up. They could keep me on at
30% time for the next ten months, or 60% time for six months.After that was a mystery.

Currently, I was a 70% time employee, filling the rest of my
work-week with either theatre production (which I had done part-time and for
peanuts for decades) or photography.I
had done a smattering of video work on top of my new part-time career of photography…
just enough to wet my interest and make it clear that I did not have the skills
to create video at a professional, competitive level.My videos were muddy, ungraded, with mediocre
sound, and choppy edits.Luckily, they
had been created for an organization with even lower standards (and a greater
sense of pleasant surprise) than I, so at least the customer was happy. But they wouldn’t have passed any reasonable critique from even a film student,
let alone professional.I was fifty-one
years old, a ridiculous age to start a new career.I had a mortgage and a child on the way.I was also tired of getting close to the work
and security I wanted from my job only to have it shaken up by outside
forces.

"Showing irritation is rarely

to your advantage."

Sitting across the table from my boss, I sighed
inwardly. We'd faced lean times before. I believe that showing
irritation or unhappiness is rarely to your advantage.I knew the real difference between ten months
at 30% and six months at 60% was insurance.At 60% I would have health insurance. For a new family that would be $800 a month on the open market.But I also knew that in my
particular field—environmental health education-- ten months had the
possibility of stretching longer; we were constantly searching for new
opportunities.

I told him six months at 60%.One hundred and eighty days of guaranteed
employment, and then….

And then. Before the clock ran out I needed to
develop not just a plan for my new company, but book enough production jobs to
accumulate the working capital needed to support a mortgage and a child.In (what later became) 40 weeks, I needed to almost
double my monthly income so that I could not only walk away from the day job
but have the resources to sustain a new business.And last week I did just that—walked away.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

This series is about how to start a successful video production company in 40
weeks.Forty seems like an odd number in
this situation.Sure, it’s four groups
of ten and there are plenty of lists of 10—ten best, ten worst, ten tips, ten
commandments…. Groupings of ten just work.
But that’s not why I picked 40
weeks.It’s the length of a human
pregnancy, the ultimate metaphor of creation.And that was one of the little earthquakes that rattled my world: my
wife had just gotten pregnant.(Okay,
that sounds like she did it all by herself when in reality I’m at least 50 percentresponsible—50… 50… hmm, that’s a good number.)

In 40 weeks I had to not only start a company, but make it
successful.

"Let go of your day job;

live off your videography"

What do I mean by successful? I believe that anyone who
makes money at their craft—whether it’s $25 a shoot or $2500—has earned the
right to call themselves a professional. But I’m setting the bar higher for
this series.By successful I mean
you’re positioned to let go of your day job and live off your videography
work.

This Going Pro series outlines the steps, theories,
and practical bits that went into my 40-week evolution from part-time
photographer to full-time videographer/photographer. It's not a road map, precisely, because there are many ways to make this journey. It's more like a suitcase for the journey. A suitcase that someone else has packed for your journey, full of surprises-- and hopefully vitally useful items. The series will spread out over the next
three months or so.

To accomplish this in 40 weeks you must have some knowledge
of videography.If you don’t, you better
add another “pregnancy” to your timeline in order to get up to speed on the
technical aspects., because this isn’t for absolute beginners.

Nor is this for established cinematographers (in
fact, I hope some of them chip in to make this series more useful). This is
designed for skilled crafts-people who are planning to make the leap into a
professional career.This includes the
business structures, strategies for reaching clients, the products I use the most, and advanced techniques that will help separate you from the hobbyist.

"Nuts and bolts of business and art"

So I won’t write about 3 point lighting; but I’ll may
discuss 4-point lighting, which is the difference between an amateur
lighting design and a beginning professional.I won’t talk about how set up a website; but I may write about what
should be included and how to coordinate across web platforms.I’ll dig into the nuts and bolts of
contracts; I’ll balance production approaches with business methodology.But mostly—and I hope most usefully—I’ll give
a blow-by-blow account of the steps I took to establish a production
company. I believe a honest personal
account can yield more gems than a dry instructional guide… and is harder
to come by even in these days of self-promotion.

I’ll post at several times a week.It may take a few entries before the meat and
potatoes of “how to” start to appear.But trust me, there’s a method to the madness of going pro.

Next post: we’ll get in the
time machine. We’re story-tellers; we need to start at the beginning.

Me Me Me

Ian Robin Walker runs Hurricane Images, a San Francisco / Bay Area photography studio that specializing in Products, Portraits, Entertainment, and Wedding photography. My work is driven by a strong, personal connection with my clients in order to provide truly unique images.

What about me?

Born in North Hampton, Massachusetts/ was told I should be an actor/ spent 25 years working as a theatre director/ created light designs for more than three dozen productions/ started writing plays/ started winning awards/ realized I had always been a photographer when I discovered photographs of me at the age of 11 with a camera in my hands/ began photographing publicity photos for performing artists and theater companies/ started having my photos published major magazines/ met you here, today.

I create high impact imagery in a calm and professional atmosphere that places clients at ease. I am interested in photographing what is unique about you. The majority of my clients are individuals; my business clients include Second Wind Productions, Albany Records, Impact Assessment Inc., the California Department of Public Health, International Musician and Engineering World Magazine, Underground Runway, JB Enterprises, and Triple Shot Productions.